Buzz-Take Me Back: Local Favorites reflect on latest pop-rock EP

Bigger and bolder: The Sometime Favorites release their new EP–- for free.
COVER ART

When Adam Long wrote the three tracks for The Sometime Favorites' new EP Take Me Back, he picked and prodded from the band's roots as struggling college musicians and managed to enunciate the sloppy, raw emotions of youth with the sleek crispness of a matured and sophisticated ensemble. The resulting album is more than just a sampler of the band's talents–- it's a business model. Their strategy is simple: just be honest, and the fans will respond. Long and fellow songwriter James East delve into their past relationships and connections much as an anthropologist or poet would, with the listener spared none of the pain and conflict.

Indeed, the three new tracks are full of regret, ache, and love–- lots of love, and all based on real life happenings.

"It's a conglomeration of a bunch of sh*t that's important to us, but vague enough for other people to relate to," explains East. "I'm still friends with a lot of people I write songs about, so I throw in some confusing things so that people don't hear them and call me saying, 'You weren't supposed to tell anyone about that.'"

Long agrees. "We're mature enough to analyze stuff that happened when we were twenty now that we're the ripe age of twenty-five," he says. "Ninety percent of your life is about a relationship when you're young, and that's what comes out when I start writing."

It's been four years since they released their self-produced debut record. "That was more representative of what we do live–- this EP definitely has more of the rocking sound that developed as soon as we took the original record on the road," explains Long.

Take Me Back was made in a more mature manner than its predecessor, too. Back then, the writing all happened in the studio, haphazardly thrown together en route. This time around, the band wrote the songs in advance and worked with outside producers. The result is a guitar-driven, radio-friendly collection of deceptively upbeat–- upbeat-sounding that is–- pop songs.

"First and foremost, I want to write songs that you think sound so happy going into it, but are kind of downers if you listen to the lyrics," says Long, who calls "I Was Wrong This Time" the disc's "soul-crushing love song."

I thought of all the ones, you'd be the last to go/but it's no surprise 'cause I'm the last to know/what you needed from me was an alibi.–-"I Was Wrong This Time"

"You can say, 'Who's this p*ssy band writing about their emotions,'" says Long, "but at least they're writing some kick-a** riffs to go along with it."